Coaches Blog

I spent the past weekend in Greensboro, N.C. for the Fall U-10 Academy Showcase for North Carolina Youth Soccer.

On Friday afternoon I met with members of the state instructional staff. We reviewed the content and how to teach the "D" and "E" courses of U.S. Soccer and the U-6/U-8 and the U-10/U-12 Youth Modules of US Youth Soccer. Bill Furjanic, the state Technical Director for North Carolina, meets once a year with the instructional staff for continuing professional development. Such meetings go a long way to keep the instructors up-to-date with any curriculum changes and to discuss teaching methods when working with adults.

The remainder of the weekend was focused on the Academy Showcase. Three years ago North Carolina Youth Soccer started an academy approach for the U-10 age group with 12 clubs involved. Now, 38 clubs from across the state participate. The academy is set up with less emphasis on teams and more on pool training for the age group. The club directors of coaching meet at the state office once a year to sort out their scheduled matches with one another, to discuss training objectives and to learn of the dates and location of the fall and spring showcase events. The showcase is not what happens with older players to display talent to college coaches. This showcase is playing round robin matches so that the clubs far apart from one another in the state get to play each other and for the coaches to better assess the development they are doing with their players. What I saw this weekend was truly wonderful. It is a model that some other state associations are doing and that the rest should copy.

The clubs form teams from their development pools to play other clubs during the year and at the showcase. However, which players are on the teams from within the pool can vary from match to match and showcase to showcase. They play by the US Youth Soccer Modified Rules which can be found here. The parents have been educated by the clubs on the purpose of the U-10 academy – develop players. So the yelling and screaming at players, referees and so on does not go on. Instead, the adults cheer for the kids, sometimes any and all kids. The referees are part of the development too. One referee is used per field, that referee is also there to help teach the players the Laws of the Game during the match. There is great cooperation between the teams and coaches too. In fact, on some of the fields the teams shared the same bench.

Because the atmosphere at the matches is with adult restraint, the players are free to experiment in the match on their skills and tactical ideas. Attempts to try something new were often cheered whether it came off or not. The approach in training and the matches has allowed the players to develop closer to their full potential. It is not often that you see 9-year-olds playing the ball out of the back instead of just kicking it down field. Indeed, many of the keeper distributions were short bowled balls to outside backs who then combined passes with teammates to move the ball up field. Attackers would dribble to the goal line and pass the ball back toward the top of the penalty area for on-running teammates. Mind you, the connections did not always work and possession was often lost, sometimes resulting in a counterattack goal. Still, no one got upset – least of all the kids who just got on with playing the game.

The academy environment allowed creativity and confidence to grow in the players through trial and error in a real game environment.

For example, I saw a player with the ball facing up field and two opponents bearing down on him. He did a little chip pass between the two onrushing defenders to a teammate. The teammate received the ball on his chest, dropped it to his feet, dribbled around his marker and headed for goal. Other times I saw kids making recovery runs at the proper angle and speed and to the right space. Now, mind you that these moments happened at times and other times the same players played like, well 10-year-olds.

So the system I saw over two days with the boys and girls showed what children this age can do when the pressure solely for results is lifted. And to say that the matches were competitive could be an understatement. The players really went at it in the truest sense of competition.

A meeting was held during the weekend where Coach Furjanic and I had a chance to speak with the coaches. Also Kathy Robinson, Executive Director for North Carolina Youth Soccer, joined us and spoke to the coaches. They know they have the support of the State Association administrators for this program. With administrators, coaches, parents and referees bought into the concept and seeing the results, the academy in North Carolina is growing. Those who started three years ago have pushed for the same set up with the U-12 age group and several teams in that age division played this weekend, and more will do so in the spring.

If you would like to learn more about this approach to youth player development, Bill Furjanic will make a presentation on the North Carolina Youth Soccer Academy at the 2011 US Youth Soccer Workshop next February in Louisville, Ky. Come join us to learn about this program and much more for administrators, coaches and referees.